Seeking feedback to improve Council’s Community Grants program

Baw Baw Shire Council is in the process of reviewing and updating the annual Community Grants Program and is inviting community feedback on the Draft Community Grants Policy and proposed Program Structure. 

Each year, Council’s Community Sponsorship and Community Grants programs award funding to a combined value of over $200,000 and support nearly 100 community groups and Baw Baw ambassadors.  

To ensure Council's Community Grants serve the current and future needs of the community, a Draft Community Grants Policy has been developed with feedback gathered from successful and unsuccessful past grant applicants and other Council’s and grant providers to develop an understanding what best practice might look as well as opportunities for improvements to the policy.  

The proposed program will see funding categories streamlined to reduce the timeframes between submitting applications and receiving an assessment outcome notification, while also expanding the types of projects that may be supported through the program. 

Ahead of the updated program launch in July 2023, all community members are invited to help shape the program and the Draft Policy. 

Quote attributable to Mayor Cr Annemarie McCabe  “Each year we see just how valuable this program is for our community. It is always a pleasure to see how many community groups, individuals, non-profit organisations and associations take advantage of the funding. 

This program helps community projects and activities to come to life – so we want to make sure the program is as accessible as possible for all community members, and ultimately encourage more people to take advantage of the support on offer. 

The more people that take part in the consultation, the better picture we’ll have of what’s working and what’s not. I urge everyone to take a few minutes and complete the short online survey to tell us what they think."  

Quote attributable to Cr Joe Gauci   “Like any good service or program, it's important that the grants process is constantly evolving and improving to meet our community’s needs.   

The changes within the new Community Grants Policy propose clearer guidelines for applicants and simpler processes for assessing applications.  

Now we need the community to review the policy, see if this will suit their needs and provide their feedback via the online survey." 

Quote attributable to Cr Michael Leaney  “There has been a lot of background work involved in developing this policy, including comparisons with other programs and interviews with past applicants, to ensure the updated program supports our community.  

We encourage community groups, individuals, non-profit organisations who have used the program previously or who may be interested to apply in the future, to get involved in responding to the survey before 24 April."